Perfection is Hard
by Steve the Icecube
Summary: I looked over my shoulder. Brambleclaw was still there "Move it, Hollykit!" he mewed, and I trembled. My legs still hurt so much. I wobbled, and fell. His claws were there to catch me. "Stop once more," He snarled, "And you'll wish you never lived."
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Another 'What If?' from me!**

**What if none of Leafpool's kits were blind? So Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight wanted perfection, but went too far?**

**Join the journey of these three abused kits (though mainly Hollykit) as they struggle through life.**

"Come on, Hollykit! Open your eyes!" My mother encouraged "You're the last to do so!"

I nodded, trying to force my eyes open.

Finally I did. Light streamed in, hurting my eyes. "Ow..." I moaned.

"Suck it up, Hollykit!" A golden coloured kit mewed, Lionkit, my brother.

"Well, it's bright!" I shot back

"Of course it is! Duh!" A greyish blue kit mewed. Jaykit, my other brother.

"Leave your sister alone, boys." Squirrelflight mewed sternly "You both said almost the same when you opened your eyes."

"Oh, let them have their fun." A cream she-cat mewed. "From what I've been told, you argued with Leafpool all the time when you were a kit."

"I think I'm allowed to tell _my _kits that they shouldn't make fun of each other, Daisy." Squirrelflight mewed coldly "They're perfect, and that's how they'll stay."

"Eh, Mum's so boring sometimes." Lionkit mewed, stretching out the boring in his sentence. "Let's go and see camp!" He whispered

"Are you sure? Squirrelflight says we're perfect. I don't wanna do something to make me not perfect." Jaykit complained

"Oh, put some moss in it, Jaykit." Lionkit mewed "If you don't want to come, I'm sure Hollykit and I will have loads of fun by ourselves."

Jaykit's expression changed "Fine, I'll come. But if we get in trouble, it's your fault!"

Lionkit nodded, and the three kits padded discreetly out of the nursery.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciated the CC. I wasn't writing well... I had writers block, but I refused to give in to it and produced rubbish writing :)**

**If Hollykit comes out with anything strange, it's because she won't know what everything is. For example, a ledge in the rock is an alcove to us.**

**I also made up most of Molepaw's description.**

Hollykit POV (I won't switch to 3rd Person, promise!)

We looked around at the clearing, eyes wide with amazement.

From what we could see, the camp was in a hole or something. Brambles climbed the walls, one had a tunnel of bramble , and there was a bracken covering on the clearing, holes here and there to let more sun in, and at a few steeper edges. At one end of camp, there was a rockfall, with a cave behind a ledge.

At another side, near the nursery, was something that looked like half a rock, and perched on it was a den with flowers at the entrance. There were cats inside, I could see movement and a golden pelt inside.

On the other side of the clearing, opposite to the flower den, there was a very large den made of a tree. There were nests made of moss inside, close together. A few cats were inside.

There was a den opposite the nursery, smaller than the tree den, and no one was inside it.

Between the tree den and the rockfall den was a den made of reeds. It had very thick walls, I couldn't see inside, really.

And, in the clearing in the middle, there was a pile of prey. It smelled really nice, but the thought of solid food made my stomach churn. Many cats were in the clearing, at the center of them all a brown tabby. I briefly picked up his voice. It was Brambleclaw, our father! He'd visited us briefly, when our mother's milk didn't come.

Lionkit stood behind me, gaping at the camp "Wow..." His voice mewed, echoing my thoughts.

"That is really cool." Jaykit mewed, standing just slightly in front of Lionkit.

"Yeah." Lionkit's whiskers twitched in excitement just after he said it. "Let's go down!"

I looked nervously at the steep drop in front of us. "It's a bit steep..." I mewed nervously "We might fall!"

"Stop so being silly!" Came a voice from almost directly below us. I leaned over the edge and looked down to see a ledge _in _the rock! I jumped back in surprise. "Don't be scared."

I looked over again, to see a grey tabby she-cat sitting in the ledge, and she was laughing. Beside her sat a large brown and black tabby tom. She smiled at me after she had stopped laughing.

"I'm Cinderpaw. This is my brother Molepaw." She mewed, indicating the tabby tom to be her brother with a flick of her tail.

"You're Hollykit, right?" He asked.

I nodded "Me and Lionkit and Jaykit just came outside!"

Cinderpaw laughed "Well, you should go ahead and go down the slope. It isn't as steep as it looks, I promise."

I nodded gratefully, and bounded down the slope, surprising my brothers, who had obviously ignored the conversation in favour of a stone they were flicking around. "Come on, it's fine!" I called to them, and they grinned.

The grins turned to a look of horror as my paws slipped from beneath me, sending me tumbling onto some rocks.


	3. Chapter 3

"Urgh..." I groaned, aching all over.

"Keep still, Hollykit." A gentle voice mewed. I'd heard it somewhere... "You don't want to get hurt more, do you?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but she put a tail over it. "You're in a lot of trouble, you and your littermates. Let me do my lecture, then come up with excuses."

I sighed, but winced as my chest shot with pain. I felt battered and weak. I had been... Oh no! I fell off of that slope!

"Hollykit, your mother told you, in her way, that you should stay with her." She skirted over the fact that Squirrelflight hadn't even seen us lead. "You ignored her and left the nursery, and in your eagerness to get into trouble, hurt yourself badly. It was irresponsible and stupid of you." She sighed, and I opened my eyes to see her smiling at me. She was a brown tabby with amber eyes.

"I'm sorry," I mewed weakly, "Cinderpaw told me it was safe."

The tabby looked shocked. "Well, she has run down that slope for the first six moons of her life. You have only just opened your eyes."

"I know that!" I mewed indignantly. "But I didn't know it wasn't safe!" I twitched, annoyed, but flinched as pain shot through me once more. "How badly am I injured?" I asked, half curiously, half scared.

"You landed on some sharp rocks. You cut one of your back legs, your right forepaw, and a little under your left eye. The one on your face will leave a scar."

"Really?"

"Don't be excited, Hollykit. Your injuries have earned you half a moon at least in the medicine den. That's where you are now. I'm Leafpool, the medicine cat and your mother's sister." Her mew held a hint of sadness. "Do you want a poppy-seed for the pain?"

I nodded.

"Okay." She passed me a small black seed, and I swallowed it gratefully, and fell asleep.

_Darkness. Everywhere. I opened my eyes, and fearfully, for a second, thought I was blind as the darkness did not clear._

_But it did, and I wished it hadn't. Blood splattered a star covered forest. Cats lay dead and dying._

_One looked up, a gold tabby. _Lionkit? _Pain echoed in deep amber eyes._

_"Save me... Please..."_

_But for some reason, my dream self turned away._


	4. Chapter 4

I woke up panting. What a silly dream! As if I would ever do that to Lionkit!

But it still creeped me out a bit. The medicine den was dark, and all I could see was the herbs, a small pool of water, and Leafpool's chest slowly rising and falling in her sleep.

_There's nothing to do in here! _I thought, frustrated. There were no cats to play with at all.

All I could do was explore.

I tried to get up, but winced as a flash of pain spread through my body. _Ow! I forgot I was injured. _Nothing to do at all, then, except lie here.

I lay there for ages, I don't know how long, but slowly, it got slightly lighter in the den, and I could hear a few cats stirring, including Leafpool.

I could smell Brambleclaw coming out of the warriors den, along with a few other warriors. Some of them went over to wake other cats, in a den near our one. I heard Cinderpaw come out of the den, I could tell it was her because she was complaining loudly.

"But can't I go see Hollykit?" She mewed.

"No." Snapped a tom's voice. "You can see her when you come back from hunting patrol."

She groaned, but left the camp.

No more cats were stirring, and I could see them moving around from the entrance of the den.

A black and brown warrior with long legs was pacing around, ignoring Daisy when she was talking to him.

And, after a long time, I spied who I was looking for. Jaykit and Lionkit were coming down into the clearing! The bounded over to the medicine cat den, jumping around when they saw that I was awake.

"Be quiet, kits. Leafpool is still sleeping." Squirrelflight mewed sternly.

"Not anymore." Leafpool mewed, stretching out from her nest. "How are you feeling, Hollykit?"

"It hurts when I move." I mewed quietly.

Squirrelflight sighed. "It's your own fault, Hollykit. If you hadn't left the nursery you would have been fine."

"I know..."


End file.
